Increasingly, business and recreational activities are conducted over the Internet and other types of communication networks. For example, on-line shopping, that is, making purchase over the Internet, is more popular and more common than ever. Unfortunately, as on-line purchasing and other network activities increase, so does the ability of hackers to steal information such as credit card information and passwords, and other personal information. In response to the growing threat, increased security measures are required to protect participants such as purchasers and vendors. These measures usually involve ever more sophisticated methods of verifying purchaser information.
Attempts have been made to provide a solution to this problem by various manners. Illustrative of such attempts are US20050125360, which discloses a method of verifying, for example, second-party checks, wherein the check-cashing entity collects authenticating marks such as watermarks and barcodes, and transmits the collected information for authorization. While such methods are useful in assisting a vendor to assess the risk involved in cashing said check, the purchaser is left open to theft of personal information over the internet.
There is a need for a simple and secure method for conducting activities such as making on-line purchases, wherein a user can complete the process simply, accurately, and in a timely manner, with no need for specialized equipment or computer programs.